Playing It Straight- A Guided Tour Around The Online Casino Floor

There's no shortage of online casino's looking for your business on the internet as a prospective online gambler. If you're interested in getting involved in the fast moving, exhilarating entertainment offered by gambling on the internet but don't want to get left high and dry read this simple overview of getting started in the virtual casino for new or novice gamblers.

Getting into online gambling in 2007

2006 was a mammoth year for online gambling. Growing to an estimated $12 billion (US) worldwide industry. New legislation clamping down on US online gamblers who account for around half of that market. If you're new to internet gambling this probably means very little- its easier than ever to logon and play and with record payouts its often easier than ever to win. Read more about stepping into online gambling with a view to having some fun and possibly making some easy money!

Is online gambling for me?

Betting in online casino's and poker rooms if often tarnished in the press as the domain of hardened gamblers in smokey rooms but in reality the backbone of this industry is in the casual players who frequent the digital tables for recreation playing usually for small stakes. The golden rule of any gambling is not betting more than you can afford to lose and for many of these casual gamblers the controlled environment of the online casino is a welcome break from the intense atmosphere of the real world casino's where they can keep a closer grip on their spending making the experience less stressful and more fun! If you are a compulsive gambler or have trouble controlling your credit card debt online gambling probably isn't for you. You can get support for compulsive gambling problems by visiting the GamCare website www.gamcare.org.uk or by calling their confidential helpline on 0845 6000 133.

Where do you start your online gaming experience?

There's no lack of options out there that's for sure- but if you are interested in getting a genuine casino experience and not feel like you're playing a 90's arcade game you'll want to head to one of the more reputable sites son the net who run high quality casino software. Roccos online casino has the most sophisticated software available giving seamless gameplay. The better the technology behind the games the more likely you are to get engrossed in the experience and win money. Whatever site you sign up with be sure to test drive the casino floor- any website worth playing will offer a practice play option where you can go into the actual casino software with some practice money to splash out and try your hand on the various games.

Free money?

Its true- most online casinos will give you free money to play on their tables just for joining. There is of course an ulterior motif here but its rarely a sinister one. Website's like Rocco's are all competing for your custom and want to offer an incentive to join up with their website and play their games. The casino's know that when a customer has found a site they trust and find easy and fun to play with they are likely to show loyalty and make that site their first choice for all their online gambling in the future. Expect to be offered up to $300 upon signing up for an online casino or poker site upon deposit of at least $200. Once you have spent up to the value of your initial deposit your free credit will be deposited into your online account. Often you will then be able withdraw this credit and leave the site covering any loses you've made but the golden rule is check the terms and conditions carefully before being enticed and if anything's unclear pick up the phone and talk to someone- if the site doesn't advertise their phone number be cautious.

Playing the game

Texas hold 'em, Roulette, Baccarat- what's your game? If you don't know you're probably not ready to put your cash at stake just yet' its time to go back to school, casino school that is. All sites should have rules and gameplay guidelines, the good ones will actually train you at the games so you can get the most out of your online casino experience. Its in the casino's best interest to make sure its players are well educated at the games they offer- the more you learn about casino games and poker the more enjoyable and enthralling they become and the better chance you stand of winning real money. Take a few minutes to learn the basics before you head to practice play- even the most complicated looking games like online craps are actually relatively simple when explained in plain English by the experts. Once you've got a feel for the games you want to play pick up some free practice credits and try your luck on the practice table. Almost all the games you'll find in online casino's are identical in rules and gameplay to real casino's so if you're familiar with these you'll pick up the online games in no time.

Where next?

Once you feel confident enough to hit the real tables you shouldn't have to be concerned about losing a small fortune. Minimum stakes in online casino's are often far lower than those of real casino's (the reason for this is simply because casino websites do not have the same operational costs as real casino's- croupiers, the building, security etc and so don't need to make the same profit margins per user) remember you shouldn't be betting more than you can afford- but online you should be able to place a bet which suits your budget- not the casino's!

Gambling online: what's the risk?

This is important- there should be no risk involved with gambling online which are not associated with gambling in the real world. Yes there is a risk you will lose, it's a gamble after all, but if you weren't comfortable with that concept you probably wouldn't have read this far. Casino's make money from people losing on their tables so you should look for an online casino which a) publishes its payout rates and b)has a high payout rate published. Rocco's has one of the highest at 97.6%- a payout of 90% + should be expected from an online casino meaning that 90% of the money staked on the casino tables was won back by its players in total over a given period of time. Exceptionally high payout percentages tend to mean better bonus wins on the site and ultimately the integrity of the games.

You shouldn't need to worry about the integrity and randomness of the games you are playing- going with one of the trusted names in the online gambling market should deter these fears as the site would have been audited by independent bodies with the results published on the site. Contrary to popular belief casino games either virtual or real are practically never 'rigged'- the casino can usually be assured a good income from the probability of consistent wins going in the bankers favour and upon reckless gamblers who lose large amounts of money quickly on high stakes games.

Can I trust the casino with my credit card details? What about hackers? Where's my money going'?

An online casino will ask for you to make deposits from your debit or credit card to be exchanged for site 'credit' to the same value- effectively this is the same as buying chips at an real casino, the chips or credit can be refunded in full at any time by returning to the bank. Expect your gambling site to offer card processing with 128 bit SSL secure digital encryption technology- the same security used in online payment processing with the biggest ecommerce sites like Amazon. Making a payment to an online casino is no different to this (in fact its usually more secure due to the amount of extra precautions put in place by online casino's due to the large amounts of cash being transferred). The actual risk of online fraud through credit card processing is extremely low and you may be covered by your credit card provider against identity theft and fraudulent purchases- which includes casino's.

Once your money has been exchanged for site credit any online spend you make i.e. placing a bet, happens externally from your credit card. The risk of 'hacking' against online players is again extremely low. Hacking is a concern for the casino's but a lot of time and money has been invested in ensuring security for the top online casino software like that used by Rocco's. The majority of attacks by hackers on online gambling websites are targeted at the casino itself rather than other players.

This article is provided for free distribution by http://onlinecasinocommunities.co.uk/ operated by Rocco's Online Casino.

This article is for information purposes only and the authors are not legally bound to any of the comment made here or anywhere this article is republished online or offline.